Warm Winter Triggers Earlier Spring, Allergy Season, Hay Fever in East US

Because of the wet and warm winter, the East of the US is experiencing an early spring. This may be a warning that hay fever is back as the allergy season gets underway for some people.

Studies have indicated that the pollen that triggers allergy symptoms has been arriving earlier than in previous decades as a result of climate change, which makes winters warmer and plants start flowering sooner.

East US Wet and Warm Winter

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA said that February maintained the year's exceptionally mild start, with record or almost record high temperatures over much of the eastern US.

February was the hottest on record in Virginia. Three additional states recorded their third-warmest February ever, while eight more states east of the Mississippi River saw their second-warmest February ever.

There was one exception, though: This February had cooler temperatures than usual in six western states: Arizona, Colorado, California, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada.

The 17th hottest meteorological winter on record, according to data released by NOAA last week, was marked by an average temperature that was 2.7 degrees higher than the norm for the 20th century.

More rain throughout a plant's growing season, according to experts, causes earlier and quicker development.

Early Spring Season

The National Phenology Network, which monitors the onset of spring by tracking the blooming of widespread plant species that are typically among the first plants to sprout leaves, including honeysuckles and lilacs, stated in late February that leaves were already sprouting the earliest they had ever in some parts of the eastern US. In New York City, buds appeared 32 days earlier than the historical average.

Climate change has led to earlier and longer growing seasons for plants, which produce pollen, the enemy of many Americans with pollen allergies as well as mold allergies, according to Lauren Casey, a Climate Central meteorologist. An asthma attack can also be brought on by pollen, which is considerably more hazardous for those who have the condition, CNN reports

Allergy Season: Hay Fever

Not only is climatic change a factor in the early sprouting. Climate change-related carbon dioxide emissions also promote earlier and quicker plant development. Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations accelerate photosynthesis because plants absorb carbon dioxide throughout the process.

Experts claim that plants develop more aggressively and generate more pollen when subjected to warmer temperatures and greater CO2 levels than they otherwise would.

Seasonal allergies, commonly referred to as "hay fever," are brought on by allergic responses to mold spores and plant pollen in the atmosphere. The allergy season is prolonged and made worse as a result of earlier and quicker plant development brought on by greater CO2 concentrations, hotter temperatures, and more precipitation.

For most people, allergies are merely a minor annoyance, but for those who have asthma, allergens may be fatal since they are a primary trigger for asthma episodes.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, 81 million Americans, including around 26% of adults in addition to 19% of children, had an asthma diagnosis as of 2021.

Antihistamine drugs and allergy injections are among the therapies for allergies that are available, but none of them is 100% successful, and some of them are also quite costly or time-consuming. In order to reduce the severity of climate change, environmental and public health advocacy groups push for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, Yahoo News reports.